Chapter 71 THE PUPPET MASTER STAGE.
ELDRIC'S POINT OF VIEW.
I stared at the board before and then smirked. If all goes the way I’ve planned, Sloane would be too humiliated to stand by Lucien’s side, and the fucker would be crushed.
“Hello, Mayor,” I said, my lips stretching in a smile, even though I hated the piece of shit. He thinks I’m King Ravenscroft, though, so I’ll just pretend I am while Lucien isn’t here.
“What is it, Eldric?” His monotonous, uninterested voice rang out, forcing me to grit my teeth and swallow a snide remark.
“I’ve been thinking.”
“Really? That’s new.” He replied, and I could hear the sound of papers shuffling through the phone, over that of my subtle hiss.
“Yes,” I said through clenched teeth. “I wanted to see if Ravenscroft High could go head-to-head in the coming national competition. The debate one, I think we have a shot at winning, especially with our world-class students.”
“Yes, I was about to call the office of your principal on that, but it seems he doesn’t work there anymore.” He said, reminding me of the way Alicia’s bastard beat me up and forced me to fire Whitley.
“Yes, he was fired,” I said, gritting my teeth and tightening my jaw. I would have my fucking revenge, even if I have to run Sloane over for it.
“Well, everything is ready, and the papers will be sent to the office of your new principal tomorrow. Do you have anyone in mind to represent you?”
“Yes.” I smiled. “Our star student, Sloane Bishops, is the perfect candidate.”
“Who’s her father? Bishops..I don’t think I have ever gotten a whiff of that name in our circles.” The fucker had some balls every damn month for no fucking reason.
“You haven’t. She’s a scholarship student.”
“What?” He asked, his tone sharp. “You want a scholarship kid to go against the children of the nation’s wealthiest families? You do know there’s an advancement to an international level, right?” He asked, rushing through his words.
It made me smirk because I knew one thing: Sloane would never get that far, not when I have something to do about it.
“She can do it. It will make the public think we give a hell about those poor kids and their families. This will be a great way to also ask for funding for the city… You know, your wife did say she needs some new diamonds.”
He stayed silent on the phone for a few minutes, and I knew I had him hooked.
“Alright. I’ll humor you then.”
“Yes, but I also want it televised, nationally.”
“You want the world to see that? You must be out of your mind, Eldric.”
“I think it would be a perfect way to truly make them all see that we care about those poor kids. I mean, the world seeing that would also place focus on our city, and you could get another term.”
“Well, it is election season in a few months.” He muttered low, and I swopped in, knowing I’ve got him again.
“Exactly. You could be mayor again, and possibly, Governor in the coming years.”
“Alright, Eldric. I’ll see what I can do.”
The phone hung with a beep, and I smirked widely again. Sloane’s not gonna know what hit her.
A day later, the press picked up on the news about the national competition in Ravenscroft High, sending the nation and parts of the world into a frenzy. It was the hottest news on everyone’s lips….they were all waiting for what would happen next.
I thought over my plan again.
Two birds, to kill one stone.
Break the scholarship brat in front of the nation, and watch Lucien burn with her.
I sat in my study and stared at the Ravenscroft crest looming above me, watching as it mocked me with its lion and jewels. Black opal. Alexandrite. All of it was forged from Alicia’s bloodline, and none of it was from mine.
I don’t give a damn about Lucien and me being blood-related; he might as well be only Alicia’s. I poured myself another glass of whiskey and picked up the phone.
I’d learned quickly that connections are a man’s real wealth, and I’d been buying mine with Alicia’s money for years now.
“Mr. Anozie,” I said when the line clicked. He would be the chief judge of the national debate competition, an honorable, respected, but very hungry for money man, I could easily hook. I stared at the transfer receipt on my screen with a smirk.
The sum of fifty thousand dollars I’d stolen from Lucien’s safe and was now sending to him felt like a small price to pay for the huge fortune I would steal from Alicia’s family.
“Consider this sum a down payment. I don’t care how you do it, but I want Bishop humiliated. I really don’t care how; find something, even if it’s lost cue cards, swap her notes, detect plagiarism in her words, or her paper, I do not care what you must have planted, I’ll let your imagination run wild. Just make sure the cameras catch her fall.”
He coughed, and I could detect him hesitating for some reason, and it made me frown. He cleared his throat and said, “Sir, she’s known as a prodigy. It will look….”
“It will look,” I cut him off, “exactly how the fuck I want it to look. She’s a fraud. A beggar dressed in a borrowed crown, a crown my son placed on her damn head. When the country sees her fall and stripped bare of that damn crown, they’ll spit on her. And when my son watches her choke on that damn stage I fucking set, he’ll finally understand that everything he touches rots, just like his mother.”
I ended the call before he could protest; the phone’s beep sound filled the silent study, as well as that of my heavy breathing.
I will see Sloane burn, no matter what.
Next, I put a call to Roxanne’s father. He answered at the first ring, the pathetic sugar-daddy bastard. “Is Roxanne participating in the competition tomorrow?” I asked before the fucker could talk.
He was desperate to keep his name among the elite, but he had fucked with Lucien, so unfortunately, no matter what he did, the moment Lucien decided to cut all investments to his company, he was done.
It was only a matter of time before they would be in rags, unless Lucien forgives, but he rarely does that.
“Yes, she’s quite excited.”
“Good. Tell her to do her part.” I said, cutting the call before he could say anything else.
My thoughts drifted back to Alicia as I swung my legs to rest on Lucien’s study table. She thought her kid would inherit everything?
I chuckle darkly.
I’ll make sure he’s stripped of everything before killing him off, the same way I did to Alicia.